The Best of Enemies: Eubank vs. Benn and the Glory Days of British Boxing

Boxing displays its truest integrity when two fighters with great respect for one another meet in the ring. It is a privilege to witness a pair of warriors who, at the end of 12 gruelling rounds, embrace in mutual appreciation, with the winner applauding the defeated and vice versa when the judges make their call. This is the noblest side of a sometimes brutal sport.

Then again, it can also be highly rewarding to watch two fighters who loathe one another end months of verbal sparring with an absolute tear-up in the ring. Perhaps not noble, but compelling viewing nonetheless.

That was the prospect at hand on 9 October 1993, when sworn enemies Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn fought at Old Trafford in Manchester. In front of a sell-out crowd and with a reported global TV audience of half a billion, this was perhaps the high-watermark of British boxing's nineties golden age.

The two Englishmen met in a super-middleweight unification bout, with Eubank holding the WBO belt and Benn the WBC equivalent. With big money to be made, it is little surprise that Don King organised the fight and, per the contract, both the winner and the loser would join King's roster.

Eubank held the psychological advantage, having won a truly classic bout three years earlier, defending his WBO middleweight belt against Benn at the NEC in Birmingham. That fight had been a barnburner – at one stage, commentator Jim McDonnell became so carried away that he cried, "Jesus, look at that right hand!" Eubank entered the re-match with a record of 35 wins, no defeats and one draw; with 37-2-0, Benn held a very similar record, but crucially had tasted defeat twice.

It would take something quite special to match their first encounter, but hopes were high that another classic was in the making. Excitement was ramped up by the fact that neither man made any effort to hide his distaste for the other in the build up to the fight. In fact, they positively revelled in it.

And this excitement was not contained to fight fans: in the early and mid-nineties, boxing was a truly mainstream sport, with live coverage on ITV ensuring that more than a quarter of the British population tuned in to see two very different characters come to blows. In fact, Eubank-Benn II ranks as the fourth-most-watched boxing match of all time on British television.

To attract such an audience, the fight needed big, clearly defined characters. It certainly had this in Eubank, who played the villain with an enthusiasm and zeal rarely matched in any sport. A cartoonish dandy who aped upper-class mores and spoke in an affected accent that belied his thoroughly working-class upbringing, Eubank was deeply unpopular in Britain. You could go so far as to say that, at times, he inspired hatred.

Highlights from the first Benn-Eubank fight in 1990

He relished this, seeming to feed off the boos from the crowd as he sauntered towards the ring, then turning to face them and absorb the full energy of their loathing. Eubank played his part so well that it is very difficult to discern what was real and what was not. What we can say is that he was a formidable fighter. For all the tweed and jodhpurs bullshit, Eubank possessed levels of courage and resilience that made him a very difficult opponent to overcome.

Nevertheless, it is fair to say that his best was already behind him by 1993. In fact, we can probably pinpoint the exact moment that his career hit its peak. In the 11th round of his fight against Michael Watson in 1991 – a bout he was clearly losing – Eubank was sent to the floor by his opponent. Battered and exhausted, he looked set to suffer his first loss as a pro. But, in what many believe were his finest few moments inside a boxing ring, Eubank was able to rise to his feet and land a devastating uppercut on Watson. Incredibly, he had snatched victory.

It should have gone down as a classic, but, tragically, Watson suffered a bleed on the brain, and insufficient ringside medical care left him permanently disabled. It was not his fault, but from that moment on Eubank seemed to lose his finishing instinct, seemingly afraid that he would injure another fighter in the way he did Watson. Between that night and his second meeting with Benn he won 10 and drew one, but never with the same venom he had possessed before the Watson fight. Eubank was like a bull without its horns: still strong, imposing and almost impossible to get the better of, but lacking the ability to land a truly devastating blow.

With Eubank the clear villain, Benn was cast as the hero almost by default. In retrospect, this was far too simplistic an assessment of a deeply complex character. His nickname, The Dark Destroyer, was incredibly apt: even at his peak, Benn seemed to exist within the shadows of his own menace, in a place where destruction was the only choice. When Nigel was eight, his elder brother and hero Andy died in suspicious and violent circumstances, a loss Benn carried deep into his adult life. As a kid he shoplifted and fought with local National Front skinheads, hustled and smoked; as an adult he battled drug addiction and flirted with suicide.

And so, while Benn may have been the public favourite for this bout, this was more down to the antipathy felt towards his opponent. There can be no suggestion that he was the archetypal British boxing hero in the tradition of Henry Cooper and Frank Bruno. Even outside the ring Benn almost appeared to vibrate with anger, his resting face seemingly a contemptuous sneer. While Eubank looked faintly ridiculous and unlike a boxer until he stepped into the ring, everything about Nigel Benn's appearance told you he was a dangerous man.

As the fight approached, the pair appeared in a bizarre sit-down interview with Jonathan Ross, the TV presenter placing himself between the two boxers while an audience dotted with celebrities watched on. Early in proceedings, Ross asked the two: "Is this bad feeling between you genuine, or is it part of the hype that's necessary to sell a big fight like this?"

Can you imagine Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko showing up on Graham Norton?

Each expressed respect for the other as a boxer, while Eubank politely refused to denounce Benn as a person. This was tempered somewhat by his description of the man sat across from him as, "a business obstacle that I must overcome to enhance my standard of living." This encapsulates part of the disdain for Eubank: he called boxing a mugs' game, one he participated in only to make himself wealthy. His views made him unpopular with those inside and outside the sport.

Perhaps angered by this statement, Benn was less taciturn: "I don't like the way he conducts himself," said the Ilford man of his opponent. After his defeat three years previous, Benn reasoned that it was the perfect time to even the scores.

It may now look incredibly dated – there, among the celebrities, is Todd Carty of Grange Hill and Eastenders fame – but the presence of two fighters on prime time TV highlights how big a story this contest was. It also tells us why in excess of 16 million people tuned in to find out if Eubank could overcome his "business obstacle" once more.

He entered to a mixed reception from the crowd that, by his standards, could be classed as a standing ovation. His walk to the ring was classic Eubank and, as he vaulted the ropes and touched down on the canvass, commentator Reg Gutteridge announced: "The ego has landed".

When the fight got underway Benn produced the more effective showing in the first, but Eubank refused to be outdone when the bell went. Rather than heading for his corner, he slowly strolled about the centre of the ring in a 30-second act of bravado that perfectly summed the man up.

The fight would prove to be cagier than the first contest and took a little longer to develop, but it still simmered with tension and outbreaks of real aggression. Benn appeared to have the upper hand early on, landing numerous blows and sending Eubank into the ropes. But in the fifth Eubank began to come into the fight, shaking Benn with a left hook and following up with a flurry of dizzying punches.

Eubank now had the bit between his teeth, but Benn was not giving in and, by the end of the ninth, there was little to choose between the two. Benn landed a short left hook in the 10th and eventually had Eubank heading for the ropes once more, but in the 11th and penultimate round Eubank showed his resilience and produced an onslaught that kept him firmly in the contest, with Benn now visibly tiring. The atmosphere in the historic football stadium had come to resemble something closer to a mid-week European contest against Barcelona, with loud chants of "here we go, here we go, here we go" ringing out through Old Trafford.

The fight went to the 12th with Benn ahead on many observers' cards, though it would clearly be a close-run thing. In his corner, Benn's team were clear about the fine margins. "Big round, son," his trainer Jimmy Tibbs said softly, before amping up volume and shouting "Biggest round! Biggest round!" in Benn's face.

The final round and its aftermath

Over in Eubank's corner, there was a simple instruction: "You've got to win this. Get out and stop him – he's had it, he's more tired than you."

In that final round Eubank went after Benn, practically chasing him around the ring, but slipped on the canvas and received a flurry of blows from his opponent. The crowd erupted again and air horns sounded. Eubank looked energetic but not entirely sure of his feet. His work rate in the final round could not be faulted, but had he landed enough blows?

"I hope that they can find a winner here," Reg Gutteridge mused with just 90 seconds left on the clock. Locked in a clinch, Benn shouted something into Eubank's ear; the shake of the head in response suggests that Benn was announcing that the fight was his. Eubank came back with a flurry of blows, Benn almost doubling over to protect his body. With just 30 seconds on the clock Eubank was dancing; at the bell, he stood and raised his arms in triumph to the crowd, while Benn wheeled off in a similar gesture. Both believed they had won, though perhaps Benn had better cause to do so.

The decision was closer than expected. One judge scored the fight 115-113 in favour of Eubank, another had 114-113 in Benn's favour, and the third called it at 114-114. A draw was declared, both men kept their belts and one of boxing's truest enmities had ended in stalemate. Upon hearing the result, Benn walked off angrily. Eubank remained in situ. For a moment, he almost looked embarrassed. It could be said that he got lucky on this occasion.

The draw led to a truly bizarre footnote. Don King's contract had stipulated that the winner and loser of the fight would fall under his control. What had not been agreed, however, was what would happen in the event of a draw. It sounds like a plot twist from a TV sitcom, but neither fighter was contractually obliged to throw his lot in with King.

The second Benn fight was arguably Eubank's last big night in the ring. He subsequently defended his title on six more occasions, finally losing his undefeated record to Steve Collins in March 1995. His career never really recovered and, after four more wins and four defeats, he retired in 1998 with a record of 45–5–2.

Benn still had another headline-making fight to come, however. His win over the highly rated Gerald McClellan in February 1995 was hugely impressive, but left the American with severe head injuries from which he has never recovered. It bore eerie similarities to Eubank's win over Watson: a truly great showing marred by tragic injuries to the other fighter.

More than two decades on, Eubank is much the same character, the volume turned down a little but still eccentric and provocative. Benn, however, is a changed man: a born-again Christian, he lives in Australia and appears to have escaped the darkness that once threatened to envelop him. Both men are now preoccupied with looking after the boxing careers of their sons, Chris Jr. and Conor.

In recent years there has been talk of a third fight between Eubank and Benn. But while their early-nineties meetings were the stuff of legend, a bout now – with both men in their fifties – would be an unedifying sight. No matter how good they were at the time, some things are better left in the past.

@Jim_Weeks